President Bola Tinubu has expressed his anticipation for six distinguished Nigerians in the diaspora, recently recognised by President Joe Biden among the 400 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in the United States, to contribute their expertise towards Nigeria’s development.
The Nigerian president also congratulated the honorees on their remarkable achievements.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), disclosed this in a statement on January 16, 2025.
This award, established by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1996, is the highest honour bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers.
Tinubu Reacts
The Presidency revealed that the Nigerian honorees include:
- Azeez Butali, Gilbert Lilly Endowed Professor of Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa.
- Ijeoma Opara Associate Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Yale School of Public Health, Yale University.
- Oluwatomi Akindele, Postdoctoral Researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
- Eno Ebong, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biology at Northeastern University.
- Oluwasanmi Koyejo, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University.
- Abidemi Ajiboye, Executive Vice Chair of the Case School of Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University.
President Tinubu commended these trailblazing Nigerians for their outstanding achievements in science, technology, and engineering.
“He looks forward to the honorees sharing their multidisciplinary expertise to benefit Nigeria’s development efforts under the Renewed Hope Agenda,” the statement added.
The Nigerian leader also emphasised that recognising these exceptional talents underscores Nigerians’ vast potential to excel both locally and globally.
What You Should Know
On January 14, 2025, President Biden awarded nearly 400 scientists and engineers the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honour given by the U.S. government to outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.
The U.S. government stated that the award recognises innovative and far-reaching developments in science and technology, expands awareness of careers in science and engineering, acknowledges the scientific missions of participating agencies, strengthens the connection between research and societal impact, and highlights the importance of science and technology for the nation’s future.
“From Day One of his Administration, President Biden has recognised the important role that science and technology play in creating a better society.
“He has made historic progress, increasing federally funded research and development and deploying past research and development at an unprecedented scale through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act,” the White House stated.
According to the White House, this year’s awardees are employed or funded by 14 participating agencies within the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, the intelligence community, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution.
